Stock monitoring of whitefish in the Chatanika River during 1998

Description

Stock assessment in 1997 indicated Chatanika River whitefish were not sufficient in number or composition to prosecute fisheries in 1997 or 1998. A monitoring project was used in 1998 to collect age and size data from the pre-spawning populations. In late August, 462 humpback whitefish Coregonus pidschian 360mm FL and 216 least cisco C. sardinella 290mm FL were sampled from a 30 km section of the Chatanika River. Sampling was conducted using electrofishing within the geographic bounds and timing of stock assessments from 1992-1994. Humpback whitefish that were ages 6 and 7 were most common, which indicated lower recruitment levels than in prior years. The most common size of humpback whitefish was between 430 and 440 mm FL. Ages 6 and 7 were the most common ages of least cisco, and the most common sizes fell between 350 and 360 mm FL. Again, a tendency toward older aged individuals has indicated lower recruitment levels in 1998. There were, however, a presence of younger and smaller fish which may suggest future improvement in recruitment.

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